1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of optical toys and amusement devices. More specifically, this invention relates to a kaleidoscope wherein the shape, structural design and contents of the object cell (typically a clear transparent viscous liquid and a plurality of colored discrete particles commonly referred to as "objects") cause these "objects" to move from one part of the object cell (for example the top) to another part of the object cell (for example the bottom) under the force of gravity following an initial turnover in a length of time that is controllable by design. Consequently, during this preselected length of time, typically several minutes, eye-pleasing symmetrical patterns, as observed through the eyepiece of the kaleidoscope, can be attained as the liquid and "objects" settle without the viewer having to rotate or re-orient the object cell with respect to the mirror system of the kaleidoscope.
2. The Prior Art
The kaleidoscope is an optical instrument invented and patented by Sir David Brewster circa 1816. In its simplest forms, it comprises either of two basic systems of mirrors, namely the 2-mirror system, which produces one central image and the 3-mirror system, which produces images reflected throughout the entire field of view. The mirrors in both systems are set up in a triangular configuration in a tube similar to a hollow prism.
In the following discussion, the end of the kaleidoscope housing the eyepiece and therefore nearer the viewer will be referred to as the proximal end. The opposite end, farther away from the viewer, will be referred to as the distal end.
Located at the distal end is an object chamber or cell in the form of a short hollow cylinder containing a plurality of small contrasting colored discrete particles in a clear transparent viscous liquid. These discrete particles, commonly referred to as the "objects" of the object chamber, are imaged by the mirror system. The totality of a kaleidoscope comprises the object chamber, the mirror system and the eyepiece, all housed inside a cylindrical tube, which is usually decorated externally to enhance the appearance of the instrument. It is the design of the object chamber, however, that governs the lighting of the colored "objects" inside, whose eye-pleasing symmetrical pattern images are seen by the viewer through the eyepiece of the kaleidoscope.
For most hand-held kaleidoscopes, the object chamber has two transparent ends. Light enters the object chamber through its exposed end. Alternatively, the exposed end of the object chamber is blackened to be opaque to light, and the cylindrical side wall of the chamber is made transparent to allow external light to enter the object chamber only from the side. Yet another configuration for this type of hand-held kaleidoscope calls for all faces of the object chamber disc to be transparent so that light can enter the object chamber not only through the exposed end, but also from the cylindrical side wall of the disc as well.
For a long time after the invention of the kaleidoscope, the illumination of the images created by the colored "objects" inside the object chamber of hand-held kaleidoscopes was mostly derived from natural lighting, either directly through the distal face or the periphery of the object chamber, or both. The advent of a new time and intensity variant artificial illumination system, complete with full audio sound effects, is the subject of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/971,092 filed Nov. 14, 1997 as ILLUMINATION SYSTEM FOR KALEIDOSCOPES of which the present application is a continuation-in-part. Most of the kaleidoscopes known in the art for many years have object cells that are affixed to the tube-like body of the kaleidoscope. Upon rotation of the entire kaleidoscope tube, the random distribution of "objects" inside the object cell is disturbed, thereby presenting a variety of pleasing and symmetrical images to the viewer. One such kaleidoscope was disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,294,967 issued Feb. 18, 1919 to Anton Stabla. This patent shows an exceedingly simple and elegant construction of the kaleidoscope with the use of an inexpensive tube made from a single piece of material. The object chamber is formed by a pair of transparent plates, separated by a spacer, with a plurality of colored "fragments" disposed between them. Natural lighting is used to illuminate the object chamber through the transparent plate that closes the end of the tube. Upon rotating the entire kaleidoscope tube, the "fragments" inside the object chamber can be caused to tumble and thereby to create different images for the viewer of the kaleidoscope.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,020,796 issued Feb. 13, 1962, Kaplan advanced the idea of incorporating a single electric lamp under the translucent object chamber of a stationary or table kaleidoscope as a means of illumination in lieu of natural light. A disk, which is made out of a variety of colorful patterns and figures, is interposed between the object chamber and the electric lamp and rotated to produce the desirable visual effects to be viewed. Although this idea of an effectively rotating object chamber for a table kaleidoscope by Kaplan is not applicable to hand-held kaleidoscopes, it did nevertheless represent the first rotating object chamber on record.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,990,772 issued Nov. 9, 1976, Knott was the first to introduce an effective rotating object chamber for a hand-held kaleidoscope in the form of a rotating carriage retained at the distal end of the kaleidoscope tube and carrying with it a color disc and an opaque object box. As the carriage is made to rotate about the axis of the kaleidoscope tube, the colorful "objects" inside the object box are caused to tumble and thereby to produce a variation of continuously changing colorful patterns for the viewer.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,131,734 issued Jul. 21, 1992, Hausner describes an improved objective illumination assembly for the hand-held kaleidoscope. Hausner includes an electric light source within the kaleidoscope tube body between the viewing end (eye-piece) and the object chamber. Furthermore, to rotate the object chamber, he devised a special mechanical assembly including a small electric motor, a drive shaft and a rubber band harness. Hausner's invention represents the first power-assisted hand-held kaleidoscope on record; it not only provided an artificial illumination system for the object chamber in lieu of natural lighting, but also provided a motorized mechanical assembly for producing an everchanging display of symmetrical images for the viewer. Unfortunately such a device was relatively fragile and yet complicated to build, making it costly to manufacture. Such an assessment of Hausner's invention is borne out by the fact that to date it remains mainly a curiosity piece and has never been widely adopted and copied in the industry.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,740,046 issued Apr. 26, 1988, MacCarthy introduced a so-called "liquid" kaleidoscope wherein the object chamber consists of one or more tubular sections in which a liquid and colored solids are constrained to flow in spatially confined volumes and in controlled directions. MacCarthy's tubular object chambers do not entirely fill the whole field of view, and they confine the liquid and solids to move in plug-like flow along the channels defined by the tubes. The object chamber which contains this assembly of closed tubes can be rotated in a clockwise or a counterclockwise direction.
In 1993, Eikich and Baker in U.S. Pat. No. B1-5,029,954(originally issued Jul. 9, 1991 as U.S. Pat. No. 5,029,954 and reexamined in 1993) advanced the idea of a kaleidoscope having a removable object tube in lieu of a stationary object chamber. The length of this object tube whose mid section acts as the object chamber for the hand-held kaleidoscope can be many times the diameter of the kaleidoscope tube itself. The extent of the object tube's diameter, on the other hand, is not critical as long as it is larger than the aperture of the prism mirror system of the kaleidoscope. The object tube is filled with a clear transparent fluid having a plurality of discrete contrasting colored elements whose movements are subjected to the force of gravity. Thus when the object tube is being held with its axis vertical, all the discrete contrasting colored elements tend to drift downwards in the fluid towards its bottom. As these particles drift down through the aperture of the prism mirror system of the kaleidoscope, the effect created is equivalent to that of an object cell with its contents changing as a function of time. Thus in this manner the viewer is presented with a variety of changing colorful symmetrical images.
However, after a certain period of time has elapsed, typically one to two minutes, all the particles will have drifted downwards to the bottom of the object tube. At this point the object tube will cease to function as the object cell for the kaleidoscope because there are no more particles in the field of view of the prism mirror system. The viewer would have to flip the object tube with the kaleidoscope from end to end in order that the particles inside the tube can once again drift downwards towards its bottom.
It is clear from the discussion of the prior art presented above that several attempts have been made to simulate the visual effects of a "rotating object cell" for a hand-held kaleidoscope with the use of a single removable object tube (U.S. Pat. No. B1-5,029,954 to Eilrich and Baker) or an assembly of fixed ones filled inside with a clear transparent viscous fluid and a plurality of colorful particles (U.S. Pat. No. 4,740,046 to MacCarthy). In both cases the force of gravity is relied upon to act on the particles inside the tube in order to induce motional effects for the objects thereby requiring the viewer to physically re-orient the kaleidoscope from time to time. The elapsed time after which the viewer has to rotate or re-orient the kaleidoscope depends upon the viscosity and density of the liquid inside the object cell, the density or buoyancy of the objects in suspension and the physical length of the object cell itself. In the case of Eilrich and Baker's invention, even though the period or duration of motion is relatively long because of the very long object tube being used, it is nevertheless very cumbersome since it extends symmetrically and perpendicularly to the kaleidoscope tube at the distal end of the instrument.
Thus there exists a need for a kaleidoscope that has a specially designed object cell that is compact and capable of providing a very long duration of motional effects, thereby greatly reducing the frequency with which the object cell must be inverted to present the viewer a continuous ever-changing display of pleasing and colorful symmetrical images. The present invention with its novel object cell structural design serves to fill this need.